OUR NAVAL DISASTERS.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 July 1915, Page 6

OUR NAVAL DISASTERS.

LOSS ill' .MAiiS'ill' AND Trill'Ml'.']. intiTisii si:;;:-.;A!:iXi"s isiim.i.iant !:Xi'!."lT. London, Mav 2rf. The loss of (V.:, «!<,■ battleships in the Harda!.;•:'.•, ar.d the destruction of a liDim-ton :i'-\\\\:<v/ .-hip I't Nheerncss is

u,t a week's n.aa'i r ml calculated to make :> blows have hoi--: taken with marvi lions nu-imn.Mv i.-.v I <"!<!" «t "■''»<■ "* '' v hole though li'" v :Vl '' - llis " lll;,t W,,,M nj.iilly .retiii-, or! <-i date, liotll tip Triumph'"ar.d il- M.,i---ii.- wcro still vi'.'.v serviceable i'.'-n.-. We do not yet know what lives \v..:'' lost in those unfortuluiti' occurrence-, hot. unless the Admiralty is tt-iiint,' -.mcihin"' less than the truth, ivi- nee,! only hi- prepared for a comparatively .-.ii.'.U death roll. Hut tho H(iwiii!» up of tli' auxiliary steamer Princess Ire"'-' at Sheerness has, it is f-ared. involved tho loss of fully 200 lives. We are still in the dark as to the cause of this disaster. The Admiral tv says the. vessel was 'accidentally Mown lip," lint what we arc inquisitive about is'how it conies about that a ship UiidcrsjoiiiK an extensive relit h.-.d on hoard elements of destruction so potent I'nd in such quantities that their explosion blew the'-hrfT'to pieces, hurled fruirilients of del'-ris nv, r a wide area. >liouk houses in places e.'.ios av.'av, whilst Unreport was di-.i -tly heard, it is-said, in the nortl: ■:". -'ilnirh.-. of hondo.i. Those who v.".-:-- -'-'i the river at the time state that there appeared to be a MiiTes.sio]] of e::p!o.-ions. and that tieninoke and flame, -ob-ided and dense K.lmnes of white smoke linns like a iinll over the Midway. When they had '•leared nw;iy not a vestijjc of the liner Was visible. Considerable damage was done to vi —.-'n in the nei"M>i',r.hno:l. A portion of a boiler foil on the <leik of a lurpe coal vo.-x-l halt a mil- away. Mijurtne' two men. and vessels in the Mc.hv.ty shiv^vd. f'om stem to stern with the force of the explosion.

The Prin e-s Ir-r.e mint have had mine very (on-:dera'.i!e store of cxiiilonivc material on bou-,| for the exclusion to iprod'.v.e .-U''; results, and it seeins to the laynvan very strange that a ship undergoing rpfit f.'.iouid have retained on board a, large nuant:tv of material liable to be ■•ac(e,!entaily" exploded. The mystery of the cxplooion will never be cleared up, for the -!: ip was n.pparontlv blown literally to pi-fos, and of the men on board not one survive, and their corpses are be.-'r.g ,],iekci up iu fragments from Hie river. OKinDA M/TS..rAKIN'KSi The 10-s of t':c Triumph and the Majestic is assried to submarines by our Admiralty, aivd Hi- Turks give th credit ill' il.eir I'ec-truction to <termini craft. It is, of ioiu'.-e. quite po.-vihle thiat 4!enr..in sn'iman'nes have been aide to go to the Mediterranean by m'ii, and we know that our Admiriiltv has been oftor;ng Cim/t reward for. lis the police would .put it. "information which will lead to the conviction" of certain. undcr-water craft known to he lurking about the many islands of t,h ' Archipelago of Turkey in Asia. It is now, however, definitely stated that tlie-e •■waitted'' ve-sels are (ierinan. They may be, and rirdbahly are, Austrian, for though Austria i.'ouiy ollicially credited with eight submarines, she has iprobably been able to plafc several more in comniiissioii since V.)c outbreak of the war. The only set-oIV to our naval losses this week lias been the 'brilliantly successful raid of our submarine El I. wliii'h. navigated 'by Lieutenant - Commander Martin Xasmith. has actually paM a visit to Constantinople, and has, it seems, wrought considerable damage en route. -

The Admiralty report- that Kll tor- j pedo'vl and sank one Turkish transport heavily laden with war material in the j Sea of Marmora, chased a. supply ship and torpedoed her as she lay alongside the ipier at Dodosto (an important port on the northern shore of the S'a of Marmora, some 70 miles west of Constantinople), and drove a smaller store ship ashore. At Constantinople -she entered the hailjor and discharged a torpedo at a ti'iuiiport lying alongside the arsenal. The torpedo was heard to explode, rlnit Commander Nasmith did not nv'ait to asV'rtain results, which was probably wise on his part. Apart from the actual damage done to the enemy by Ell. the raid upon Constantinople ought to produce some moral cll'ect upon the inhabitants of the .Sultan's ■capital —if they are permitted to know what has happened. l'n/bably, however, the Turkish authorities will prefer to put whatever damage was done to the transport down to an'"accidental" explosion. Whatever the results, however, Com-

mander Xas-mith and bis comrades must be given all credit for a very gallant and brilliant exploit, concerning which it is to be hoped our Admiralty will presently give us the fullest possible details.' Submarine Kll, it may be mentioned, belongs to the very numerous group of boats representing the 'iv' class, which are of very modern, though not of the latest, design. The displacement is 810 tons, the li nglii 174 /eel, and the speeds above and below water are 10 and lit knots respectively. An armament of four 21-inch torpedo tubes and two quick-tiring guns as carried. The complement is twenty-seven. U will 'be remembered (bat F.l.k a sister boat, ran ashore in the Dardanelles last mouth whilat trying to enter the Sea of Marmora, and was subsequently torpedoed to prevent her falling into the enemy's hands. Another boat of the -amc class. Kl-I, recently succeeded in penetrating the Dardanelles and did great damage in the Sea of Marmora, wliore she sank two Turkish gunboats and a transport crowded •vith -troop;. 'But the exploit of F.U in actually entering the froldcn Horn, and their torpedoing ,n transport alongside the •arsenal, is the most audacious and skilful operation hitherto performed by any .submarine. Lieutenant-Commander Martin .Nasmith was advanced to this rank in May, 1!>]". We is a submarine specialist, and has been employed in this branch of the service for some, vearj.